Chapter Summaries

After Liu He killed himself, Liu Xun awakened long enough to name Liu She as his successor and appoint regents before dying. The court enthroned Liu She and honored Liu Xun as Emperor Xiaoxuan, Zhongzong of the Great Han.

• Huo Guang reported Liu He's death to Empress Xu, who ordered the palace secured and led the ministers to the unconscious Emperor.
• Empress Xu reassured the ministers that she would issue Liu Xun's final edict if he did not awaken, and they waited beside him through the night.
• Liu Xun awoke, named Liu She Crown Prince, appointed Huo Guang and other officials as regents, and granted Liu He the posthumous title Ci.
• Liu Xun died after speaking with Xu Pingjun, who ordered Huo Guang to oversee his funeral and Liu She's accession.
• The ministers paid homage to Liu She at Emperor Gao's Ancestral Temple and agreed on Liu Xun's posthumous title Xiaoxuan and temple name Zhongzong.

Mounted Inspectors killed Lu's fleeing family after forcing them to sign their exile register, and Huo Guang established Liu She's reign by rewarding his supporters and beginning a ruthless purge of Liu He's descendants and allies. The Empress Dowager recognized she could not stop the purge and focused on protecting the young emperor.

• Mounted Inspectors caught Lu's family, killed their escorts, and forced the five relatives to sign the exile register.
• The Mounted Inspectors' leader offered the women a dignified death and killed the two women who accepted.
• The emperor performed sacrifices, took the title Son of Heaven, and the court proposed the era name Lingjue.
• Huo Guang distributed high offices and rewards to the ministers who had helped secure Liu She's throne.
• Huo Guang and the coup's participants ordered Liu He's adult sons killed and his infant sons stripped of their Liu Clan genealogy status.
• The Empress Dowager accepted that she could not prevent the purge and resolved to care for Liu She.

After years serving in Chang'an, Luo Qing returned to Zhao City and reunited with Luo Bai, Wang Wenjun, and their children. Wang Wenjun began matchmaking for him and set her sights on Luo Ling, who blushed but said she would follow the family’s wishes.

• The court ended its purge of Crown Prince La’s former faction and reopened the usual channels for entering official service.
• Luo Qing spent years in Chang'an studying the stars and teaching at the Imperial Academy before receiving Luo Bai’s letter asking him to return home.
• Luo Qing arrived in Zhao City and reunited with his elder brother Luo Bai, sister-in-law Wang Wenjun, and their children.
• Wang Wenjun asked Luo Ling whether Luo Qing had met a woman in Chang'an, and Luo Ling said he rarely encountered any women there.
• Wang Wenjun decided Luo Ling would make a suitable match for Luo Qing, and Luo Ling blushed as she said she would follow her sister-in-law’s wishes.

Luo Bai told Luo Qing that the Luo Clan faced mounting crises from powerful gentry, corrupt local officials, and failing state monopolies, then asked him how the clan should respond. Wang Wenjun also quietly planned to match Luo Qing with Luo Ling, while Luo Qing was left weighing the clan’s difficult choices.

• Wang Wenjun suggested Luo Qing marry Luo Ling, and Luo Bai agreed that they were a suitable match and said the proper procedure should be followed.
• Luo Bai described how land annexation and collusion between powerful gentry and local officials had worsened across the regions east of the passes.
• Luo Qing worried that Huo Guang’s limited authority prevented him from taking decisive action against the powerful gentry.
• Luo Bai explained that poor state-produced iron had caused famine in Yuzhang Commandery and that similar problems with the monopolies existed across the realm.
• Luo Bai said the clan had not decided whether to support or oppose the salt and iron monopolies and asked Luo Qing for his view.

Luo Qing and Luo Bai discussed why the Han court could not abolish its salt and iron monopolies and considered opening iron casting while retaining control of iron ore. The Luo Clan feared that using its power to prolong Han’s decline would provoke the Mandate of Heaven, but Luo Qing became eager to read the Grand Historian’s completed annals of Han’s emperors.

• Luo Qing explained that the Han court relied on salt and iron monopolies for tax revenue and control, while abolishing them risked empowering local gentry.
• Luo Bai proposed opening iron casting while keeping iron ore under state control, and Luo Qing considered writing to Huo Zimeng to raise the proposal at court.
• Luo Qing and Luo Bai recognized that the Luo Clan might be able to restore Han by taking regency, but feared the Mandate of Heaven’s reprisal for artificially prolonging the dynasty.
• Luo Bai told Luo Qing that the Grand Historian had completed nine basic annals of Han rulers, including annals for Xiang Yu and Empress Lü but none for Emperor Xiaohui.
• Luo Qing praised the Grand Historian’s boldness and looked forward to reading the histories.

Luo Qing persuaded Sima Qian to give Emperor Xiaohui his own basic annals and offered the Luo Clan’s records of King Wen of Luo to aid his history. The Luo Clan later presented the Han chapters of the Comprehensive History of All Xia to the court, where the Son of Heaven and his ministers praised the work.

• Luo Qing argued that Emperor Xiaohui had possessed the Mandate of Heaven and deserved his own basic annals, and Sima Qian agreed to write them.
• Sima Qian asked to include more of King Wen of Luo’s deeds in the annals of Empress Lü and Emperor Xiaohui, and Luo Qing offered the Luo Clan’s personal notes.
• Luo Qing reassured Sima Qian that the Luo Clan would defend the history’s judgments and planned to present its Han chapters at court the following year.
• At the audience in Changle, Qing presented the Han chapters of the Comprehensive History of All Xia to the Son of Heaven and the ministers.
• The Chancellor praised Sima Qian’s truthful writing, and the Son of Heaven said the Han sage kings could now be remembered by posterity.

Wang Zhaojun’s supernatural affinity with birds and resistance to cold strengthened the Luo Clan’s descendants, while her son led the Dare-to-Fight Warriors through Liaodong to capture Haidongqing. The chapter ended with a travel diarist recording the Zhao City legend that Wang Wenjun could command birds through the Zhou People’s Phoenix mandate.

• Luo Bai and Wang Wenjun’s son guided the Dare-to-Fight Warriors through Liaodong, using a whistle to summon his Haidongqing and choosing a place to rest.
• Several Haidongqing flew over Zhao City, where a resident told a visiting student that Wang Wenjun and her children could command birds.
• Wang Wenjun’s son summoned a Haidongqing beside Luo Bai and offered to present the bird to the Han House’s Son of Heaven.
• Ji Zhao recalled the system’s message that Wang Zhaojun’s marriage raised the Luo Clan descendants’ minimum charisma, granted cold resistance, and gave direct-line descendants an affinity with birds.
• A visitor recorded the Zhao City account that Wang Wenjun was a reincarnated Snow Spirit protected by Lingjun and could commune with all birds.

Huo Guang arranged for nearly one hundred fertile beauties to enter the palace so Liu She could secure heirs, and Lady Cao’s pregnancy was followed by the births of five imperial children. With the succession no longer in immediate danger, the Empress Dowager summoned noble daughters to Chang’an so Liu She could choose an empress, while Huo Guang prepared for a larger, undisclosed undertaking.

• Huo Guang ordered officials and commoners across the realm to send beautiful women who had borne sons to Chang’an to help Liu She produce heirs.
• Liu She began favoring the selected women on a strict schedule, and Lady Cao of Pei Commandery became pregnant in the third month.
• Liu She named Lady Cao a Beautiful Lady and promised that her son would become King of Pei if she bore an imperial prince, while Huo Guang and the Empress Dowager increased protection for pregnant women.
• By the end of the eleventh year of Lingjue, Liu She had five children, and the emperor and Empress Dowager summoned nobles and their daughters to Chang’an for celebrations and to consider an empress.
• Huo Guang declined to offer his own daughter as a bride but recommended women from his clan, while nobles from across the realm traveled to Chang’an in grand processions.

Liu She and Huo Guang used complaints from high-ranking marquises about powerful gentry families to justify a court investigation and strengthen imperial authority. Huo Guang celebrated the feudal lords’ renewed deference while planning a year of ceremonies that would keep them in Chang’an, as Liu She returned to the palace and set aside thoughts of statecraft.

• A high-ranking marquis complained to Liu She and Huo Guang that a powerful gentry family had seized land and influence within his marquisate.
• Liu She promised to send Embroidered-Robe Inspectors and palace guards to investigate the gentry family and the commandery governor.
• Huo Guang told Liu She that the court could sacrifice powerful gentry families because the garrison marquises were willing to support the state.
• Huo Guang praised the feudal lords’ attendance and tribute as proof of Great Han’s revived authority, while planning several ceremonies and a return of power within the year.
• Liu She visited the rear palace, enjoyed the company of the women there, and decided that preserving his ancestors’ legacy would be enough.

Luo Bai and Wang Wenjun joined the gathered Feudal Lords in Chang'an for a grand imperial ceremony, where Wang Wenjun’s ageless beauty astonished the court. The ceremony began with the emperor and Empress Dowager entering the hall, and the assembly offered blessings to the Son of Heaven.

• Luo Bai asked Wang Wenjun what she thought of Chang'an, and she praised its prosperity while saying she preferred Zhao City.
• Luo Qing and Luo Lan lamented their distance from Zhao City, and Luo Bai placed a plum blossom in Wang Wenjun’s hair and spoke of her fame.
• The Feudal Lords arrived in Chang'an, and preparations continued for an Empress’s investiture during the New Year gathering.
• Wang Wenjun entered the Imperial Palace beside Luo Bai, drawing the nobles’ attention with her beauty and youthful appearance.
• Luo Bai and Wang Wenjun took their seats among the assembled rulers and ministers, with Luo Bai seated second on the left.
• Huo Guang entered the hall with the Empress Dowager and the emperor, and the assembly chanted blessings for the Son of Heaven and Great Han.

At the imperial banquet, Liu She greeted Luo Bai and Wang Wenjun, and the Empress Dowager announced the emperor’s marriage to the Marquis of Huaiyin’s widowed eldest daughter. Huo Guang then requested permission to retire and return authority to the throne, leaving the Empress Dowager to oversee the government while he remained available for counsel.

• Liu She welcomed Luo Bai and Wang Wenjun, praised their families’ enduring alliance, and offered them his blessings.
• The Empress Dowager announced that the emperor would marry a daughter of the Marquis of Huaiyin’s household and summoned the future empress.
• The assembled ministers discovered that the chosen bride was the Marquis of Huaiyin’s widowed eldest daughter, not his unmarried youngest daughter.
• Huo Guang asked the Empress Dowager and Liu She to let him retire and return his governing authority because his health was declining.
• Xu Pingjun granted Huo Guang’s request but required him to remain in Chang'an and advise the emperor and Empress Dowager when needed.

During a devastating drought across four provinces east of the passes, Huo Guang persuaded Liu She to send relief and traveled there with Luo Qing to ensure the grain reached the people. After the crisis was contained, Huo Guang died in Heluo, mourned across the empire.

• Memorials reported famine, refugees, and unrest across Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou, and Liu She sought Huo Guang's counsel.
• Huo Guang urged Liu She to relieve the people and volunteered to supervise the disaster relief, asking Luo Qing to accompany him.
• As they left Chang'an, Huo Guang reflected on his legacy and told Luo Qing that he would travel with him to ease the people's suffering.
• Huo Guang organized grain purchases and deliveries from Jizhou and across the affected provinces, suppressing unrest and restoring order.
• After the four provinces were settled, Huo Guang died in Heluo, and Liu She and the people of the empire mourned him.

Huo Guang died in Luoyang after pacifying the region east of the passes, and Liu She honored him with a grand burial and the posthumous title Marquis Wulie. Liu She established the Kirin Pavilion to commemorate twelve ministers, while the chapter ended by noting that the Han Dynasty remained prosperous under Liu She but had begun a gradual decline.

• Huo Guang died in Luoyang, and Luo Qing conveyed his final request that the emperor remember Emperor Xiaoxuan’s hardships and govern well.
• Liu She and the court received Huo Guang’s coffin outside Chang’an and arranged his burial with five of the Nine Bestowments.
• Liu She overruled debate and granted Huo Guang the posthumous title Marquis Wulie, then announced the creation of the Kirin Pavilion for twelve meritorious ministers.
• Liu She named Huo Guang first among the twelve, with Luo Shi second, Liu Xiang third, Luo Qing fifth, and Liu Chang twelfth.
• The Kirin Pavilion list won praise across the realm, and the chapter concluded that the Han Dynasty remained stable under Liu She while beginning a gradual decline.

As torrential rain threatened Guanzhong, Emperor Liu Yang ignored the Chancellor’s urgent request for an audience while favoring Long Qing. Shut out of the palace, the Chancellor ordered local officials to prepare for floods and resolved to resign, leaving the crisis to continue without the emperor’s attention.

• Liu Yang reassured Long Qing that he would make him empress and would not take an empress consort, then went to rest with him.
• A palace attendant reported that the Chancellor had arrived to seek an audience, but the eunuchs refused to disturb Liu Yang and made the Chancellor wait.
• The Chancellor and senior ministers feared floods, famine, and epidemics as the Great River rose, and they realized the palace had not relayed their request.
• The Chancellor ordered commanderies and counties around Chang'an to protect farmland, prevent the river from breaching its banks, and secure stored grain.
• The Chancellor said he would resign after a year of conflict with Liu Yang, and the ministers left to carry out the emergency preparations.
• The account noted that the Chancellor left office and returned home within a month, while the inner palace was relieved and eunuchs’ influence remained strong.

After a devastating flood left Guanzhong’s people starving and displaced, Liu Yang issued an edict for relief, tax exemptions, and access to imperial lands. The court’s grain shortages and harsh suppression of displaced people instead drove survivors into the mountains as bandits, leaving Liu Yang to question why the state had turned its weapons on them.

• Floodwaters devastated Guanzhong, driving crowds of displaced people toward commandery and county towns in search of grain.
• Liu Yang learned that Guanzhong had flooded and issued an edict ordering relief envoys, access to imperial resources and vacant land, and two years of tax exemption for affected commanderies.
• The edict calmed displaced people and redirected blame from the imperial house, but the court lacked enough grain to meet the disaster’s needs.
• The court recruited selected men for service and used troops to suppress other displaced people, scattering survivors into Guanzhong’s forests and mountains, where they became bandits.
• Scholars warned that land annexation and widespread poverty threatened the Han, while officials blamed the people’s suffering on Heaven rather than the state.
• Liu Yang asked why the Han had turned weapons against its people, but commandery officials defended the court, and bandit groups continued rising across Guanzhong.

Luo Yi decided to intervene in Great Han’s worsening crisis and seek appointment as Grand Chancellor, despite the Luo Clan’s warnings about the danger. The emperor’s response remained uncertain until a falling star appeared over Chang’an and prompted him to appoint Duke Zhao.

• Luo Yi told his wife that Great Han’s decline stemmed from problems its rulers could neither repair nor reform safely, and said he wanted to help displaced people through reform from the top down.
• Luo Yi declared that he would act personally to protect the Luo Clan’s younger members and test whether the clan could change the dynasty’s fate without relying on its reserves.
• The Luo Clan’s members opposed Luo Yi’s plan, but he persuaded them by proposing to seek the position of Grand Chancellor rather than ordinary service to Great Han.
• In the sixth year of Lingyou, a dust-pillar-shaped falling star descended upon Changle and shook the Forbidden Palace.
• The emperor consulted Duke Zhao’s interpretation of the omen and appointed him Grand Chancellor.

Luo Yi arrived in Chang'an to take up his appointment as Grand Chancellor, unsettling the ministers who expected him to bring reforms. Emperor Liu Yang welcomed him eagerly, while Long Qing was captivated by Luo Yi's appearance.

• Officials outside the palace debated whether the reported meteorite was real and what Luo Yi's arrival might mean for the court.
• The Dare-to-Fight Warriors escorted Luo Yi's carriage to the Palace Gate, where the ministers greeted him as Grand Chancellor.
• Liu Yang invited Luo Yi to enter the palace by carriage and directed him to the Rear Hall while the other ministers waited in the front hall.
• Luo Yi met Liu Yang and Long Qing in the Rear Hall, and Long Qing was immediately drawn to him.
• Liu Yang told Luo Yi that he had waited a long time for him to come to Chang'an.

Luo Yi urged Emperor Liu Yang to restore Great Han by rebuilding the administration and attacking powerful gentry who exploited the people. The emperor accepted Luo Yi’s plan to punish offenders and relocate their clans to the frontier, while a historical account described Yi teaching Emperor Dao that a ruler needed the Sovereign Sword and worthy ministers.

• Luo Yi told Liu Yang that the court’s crisis stemmed from spending beyond its revenues and the exploitation of the common people by powerful interests.
• Luo Yi rejected relocating more powerful gentry to Guanzhong and warned that doing so could worsen land seizures and unrest.
• Liu Yang vowed to punish imperial relatives who broke the law, and Luo Yi advised him to build a reform-minded administration before attacking powerful gentry and their allies.
• Luo Yi proposed relocating the clans of convicted offenders and the people they had concealed to frontier regions, and Liu Yang approved the plan.
• Yi taught Emperor Dao about the Heaven Sword and the Sovereign Sword, then named five kinds of worthy gentlemen needed to wield the latter.
• Emperor Dao entrusted the government to Yi after acknowledging Duke Zhao’s recommendation.

Luo Yi issued an empire-wide edict inviting worthy and talented people to serve the Han court, while Ji Zhao warned Ji Lingjun that the world’s changing fate might soon challenge the Luo family. The edict drew scholars toward Chang’an as Luo Yi prepared to build a loyal cadre of officials for reform.

• Luo Yi dictated an edict calling on people across All Under Heaven, including the marginalized and various Hu Peoples, to come forward for government service.
• Luo Yi sent the edict to the Son of Heaven for approval and wondered whether his actions were right as he awaited the supernatural forces’ response.
• Ji Zhao awoke in the Void Heavenly Realm and told Ji Lingjun that the Han Dynasty’s fortune was churning and the world was changing in unforeseen ways.
• Ji Zhao urged Ji Lingjun to watch how heaven operated, warning that the Luo family’s advantage might not last as the world changed.
• The sealed edict spread across the empire, and scholars and worthies began traveling toward Chang’an in large numbers.

Luo Yi purged corrupt officials and placed loyal scholars in local government, while Liu Yang publicly declared that the Luo and Liu Clans shared All Under Heaven and firmly supported the reforms. With the initial results clear, Luo Yi warned that deeper reforms would face widespread opposition, and Liu Yang asked him what to do next.

• Luo Yi investigated and punished corrupt officials, promoted scholars to commanderies and counties, and imprisoned a critic whose family had seized land and caused deaths.
• Officials and members of the Liu Clan tried to turn Liu Yang against Luo Yi by arguing that the Luo Clan was eclipsing the emperor’s authority.
• Liu Yang issued an edict declaring that Luo and Liu shared All Under Heaven and threatening death to anyone who tried to sow discord between him and Luo Yi.
• Liu Yang praised the improvements under Luo Yi, but Luo Yi warned that cleaning up the administration only stopped officials from exploiting the state and that real reforms would provoke opposition.
• Liu Yang asked Luo Yi for advice on the next steps as the Lingyou Reforms began.